Mamata dares Maoists in Midnapore

Daring the Maoists in their own den, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee today asked people in Maoist-hit West Midnapore to help her government carry out development work even as four Maoists surrendered in her presence.

Daring the Maoists in their own den, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday asked people in Maoist-hit West Midnapore to help her government carry out development work even as four Maoists surrendered in her presence.

“I am not scared of anyone and have come to this position through continuous struggle. I am always with the poor. If anyone wants to kill me, he can shoot me. I am not afraid,” she said.

Banerjee called top officials to the dais to explain the development initiatives during the past seven months.

“No, no. You are a government official. You cannot tell the lie. Please come and say whether tender was issued for the bridge at Nayagram,” she told chief secretary Samar Ghosh, who was reluctant to come to the stage.

Ghosh then said: “I, on behalf of the state government, announce that we have already issued the tender for the bridge in Nayagram.”

Not only Ghosh, health secretary Sanjay Mitra, director general of police Naparajit Mukherjee and district magistrate Surendra Gupta were similarly asked to explain the projects being undertaken in their own fields.

Banerjee concluded: “We have done a lot in the seven months and this is not a matter of joke.”